Food pantry to serve Fletcher students

Monday

Following the lead of other colleges across the nation, Fletcher Technical Community College will soon offer students access to a food pantry on campus.

Dozens gathered in the college's Integrated Production Technology Building as officials cut the ribbon for the project.

During the ceremony, Fletcher Chancellor Kristine Strickland said the school recognizes that a large percentage of students are hungry.

"For many of them, it is not the academic hurdles that keep them from getting a degree," she said. "It's those unexpected hurdles, those life hurdles that keep them from achieving that milestone."

The college is joining the local Good Samaritan Food Bank to bring the pantry to life. Good Samaritan Director Lawrence DeHart said it will purchase the food on Fletcher's behalf to supply the pantry since it already has established partnerships.

DeHart said the food bank has worked with a nutritionist to create shelf-stable packages that will last students a week. They'll fill out questionnaires and return as needed.

He gestured to the line of food consisting of milk that didn't need refrigeration, corn and fruit.

"They can literally put everything in their backpack," said DeHart.

If the student needs to provide for the family as well, DeHart said, the bank give that student a month's supply of food to take home.

Research suggests that almost half of college students in the country face food insecurity while attending school.

A 2018 study in Louisiana stated it had the second-highest food insecurity rate in the country, a rate that has increased faster than the national average.

Since 2007, hunger in Louisiana has risen by 5.6 percent while the national rate rose by 0.7 percent.

Louisiana Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed congratulated Fletcher's staff on the decision to open a pantry, speaking on the prevalence of hunger for students across the state.

She said Fletcher is showing that it's a "caring campus."

"Sometimes it's those little things that make a difference in student success," said Reed.

From a state level, the commissioner said, officials recognize that food insecurity is a barrier and have been trying to address the issue.

She pointed to a collaborative effort among colleges in New Orleans to join a food alliance.

DeHart called Fletcher's food pantry "cutting edge," saying it will be a "game changer for the students."

The food pantry, which will be staffed by students, should be open in the next few weeks. Though it's based on Fletcher's main campus, the pantry will be available to those in Thibodaux as well.

DeHart said, "We're trying to give a hand up, not a hand out."

Staff Writer Halle Parker can be reached at hparker@houmatoday or 857-2204. Follow her on Twitter, @_thehalparker.

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